Symptoms
Symptoms vary. Most people have no noticeable symptoms. If you do get symptoms, you'll probably notice them 2 to 20 days after having sex with someone who is infected. Early symptoms may include a burning sensation in the genitals, lower back pain, pain when urinating, and flu-like symptoms. A few days later, small red bumps may appear in the genital area. Later, these bumps can develop into painful blisters, which then crust over, form a scab, and heal.

Testing
Sometimes the diagnosis can be made by physical examination alone. For testing, the doctor will collect a small amount of fluid from the sores and send it to a lab to see if the herpes virus is present. Testing for Herpes may take up to 2 weeks to get the results. If no sores are present, testing may be difficult. At present, a blood test for herpes is available only in a few research centers.

Treatment
Although herpes is a chronic, lifelong viral infection, you can treat the symptoms. Treatment of genital herpes outbreaks, especially when started early, shortens the duration of the outbreak and reduces the symptoms. The drugs used are acyclovir and, more recently, famcyclovir and valacyclovir.

Prevention
You can get and spread herpes through oral, anal and vaginal sex. Preventing the spread of herpes means approaching sexual relationships responsibly: limit the number of your sex partners, use condoms, and if you think you are infected, avoid any sexual contact and visit a local sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic, hospital, or your doctor. Remember that many genital herpes infections are spread by people with no noticeable symptoms. You also can get the herpes virus from kissing, touching, and caressing infected areas. In cases where people have more than six outbreaks a year, preventative (prophylactic) suppressive therapy is available.